The Trunk Space is an all-ages music venue in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, United States. It is located at 1124 N 3rd Street.

Background

Originally a coffee cart called ''The Paper Cup'' in the now defunct Paper Heart Gallery, in its original location on Van Buren Rd., co-owners JRC and Stephanie Carrico split from the Paper Heart Gallery to form The Trunk Space. The Trunk Space is an art gallery,

coffee bar A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

, and performance space. There are gallery shows twice a month, for Phoenix's First Friday and Third Friday art walks, with randomly occurring private events. The

features a full-service

espresso machine An espresso machine brews coffee by forcing pressurized water near boiling point through a "puck" of ground coffee and a filter in order to produce a thick, concentrated coffee called espresso. The first machine for making espresso was built in ...

which uses Xanadu coffee beans. The performance space is used for improv comedy, MST3K-styled movie showings and most notably, musical performances. Performers vary in genre, amounts of experimentation and experience levels. Presently, the featured mural on the brick wall which hosts the front entrance of The Trunk Space was painted by Luster Kaboom.

Music

The Trunk Space is a notable venue for touring acts that are on the rise. Some notable acts that have come through include; Matt and Kim,

Nobunny Nobunny was the stage persona of musician Justin Champlin, performing under the moniker since 2001. His debut LP, '' Love Visions'', was home recorded and released in 2008 on Bubbledumb Records to positive reviews. It was re-released with 1-2-3- ...

Japanther Japanther was an American punk band established by Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek, then students at Pratt Institute. Japanther was featured in the 2006 Whitney Biennial and the 2011 Venice Biennale, and collaborated with a diverse pool of artists su ...

, Mark Sultan (of The King Khan and BBQ Show fame), Julian Koster,

Kimya Dawson Kimya Dawson (born November 17, 1972) is an American folk singer-songwriter, one half of the anti-folk duo the Moldy Peaches. Dawson's work with the Moldy Peaches earned them a cult following and critical acclaim, with their 2001 song "Anyone El ...

, Quintron and Lightning Bolt. Some notable acts have gotten their starts and have come to prominence through frequent playing at the venue, including opening for some of the bigger, touring acts. Andrew Jackson Jihad, Michelle Blades, and TreasurE MammaL are a few notable bands that fall under that category.

Performance Art

On top of monthly Improv and a Late-Night Talk Show, there are performance arts pieces of varying types, such as roasts of those living and deceased.

Community

Through its years of being open, The Trunk Space has a developed a very close and personal group of volunteers and regulars, whom consider the venue and its involved members to be family. These regulars can be found helping run the door, running the espresso machine, setting up bands and running the sound board. Sean Bonnette of Andrew Jackson Jihad got a tattoo of The Trunk Space's street numbers, backwards, after noting them from frequently while performing on the stage, where the street numbers can be seen reversed above the door facing Grand Avenue. Since he has gotten the tattoo, numerous other family members have received the tattoo, including Carrico and JRC. At last count, at least a dozen presently have the tattoo. In April 2014, the community celebrated The Trunk Space's 10th anniversary with a multiple-day concert festival, ''Indie 500'', which featured dozens of bands, performing over the course of 10 days, with some 500 songs played in total.

References

External links